


so i went ahead and blamed it on you instead !

by like_squid_ink



Series: lisianthuses and hyacinths [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Enderman Hybrid Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Enderwalking Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt No Comfort, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Minor Violence, Not Canon Compliant, Not RPF, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ranboo Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Self-Doubt, i really can't avoid the rpf tag with dream bc his name is so vague sjadfb, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-28 09:42:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30137640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/like_squid_ink/pseuds/like_squid_ink
Summary: -crap crap crap he’s asking what i was doing near the prison uhh-excuse sent-excuse more or less accepted. However, i am not to be seen withing ten blocks of the prison at all times.-tommy says thats bullshit and is now arguing w/ sam-it has been updated to ten blocks without supervision. which is fair ig?...in which ranboo finds an oddly empty chat
Relationships: Niki | Nihachu & Ranboo, Ranboo & Dream, Ranboo & Michael, Ranboo & Philza Minecraft, Ranboo & Technoblade, Ranboo & Tubbo
Series: lisianthuses and hyacinths [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2221932
Comments: 33
Kudos: 265





	1. ambiguous speakers

**Author's Note:**

> ello!
> 
> sighs does this count as a chatfic? is this what a chatfic is like?
> 
> uhh there are gonna be two chapters - second one is not in this chat style, it's actual third person and stuff sdnabfh
> 
> i took some liberties with how the mc chat system works but that is general what the chats are meant to be, discord does not exist in this

**< Ranboo>** Hello!

**< Ranboo>** that was kind of weird. I know that nobody is going to read this. probably?

 **< Ranboo>** unless someone steals my communicator. if that’s the case, then i’ll explain anyways. Ha, this is still weird

**< Ranboo>** hello thief! if you’re reading this, either I msg’d the wrong person, or you stole my communicator! this is a dead chat that i found a week ago. 

**< Ranboo>** the reason there aren’t any msgs before now is bc i wasn’t sure if this was really empty or not. sort of spent the week spying on the chat to see if anyone would show up, but nobody did. I sneaked (is that a word? sounds like a word) a look at tubbos communicator and there was no option for this chat there, and hes been around a lot longer than me.

**< Ranboo> **basically, the fact that this chat is open means there should be at least one other person with access to the chat, but nobody does. maybe it’s a locked chat and there is actually someone else here that just never talks. who knows.

**< Ranboo>** god, i really hope there isn’t anyone else here. that’d be awkward.

 **< Ranboo>** last chance! anyone here?

**< Ranboo>** no?

**< Ranboo>** ok. well, then, goodbye, empty chat.

.

**< Ranboo>** i’m going to kill sam

**< Ranboo>** not actually ofc. but seriously. 

**< Ranboo>** dude is calling Philza Minecraft an old man,

 **< Ranboo>** tells ME to STEAL from philza!

 **< Ranboo>** then has the absolute AUDACITY to say

**< Ranboo>** ‘oh if phil says he watched everyone he cares about die then doesnt that technically mean he doesnt care about you? ohh oh im sam im good at building and redstone oohh look at me disrespecting philza minecraft’

**< Ranboo>** ...i’m not actually that upset over it. I know. and i get where sams coming from, i know he doesn’t mean harm.

 **< Ranboo>** it’s just frustrating bc i’ve had this conversation with myself. I know that i’m phil’s second choice.

**< Ranboo>** i’m everyone’s second choice, if i’m being entirely honest with myself.

**< Ranboo>** i trust sam, really. I’m just wound up lately. taking it out on him won’t do anything.

.

**< Ranboo>** I’m going to kill Sam. 

.

**< Ranboo>** i entirely forgot about this chat lol

**< Ranboo>** follow up on the killing sam thing: i wasn’t being serious again

 **< Ranboo>** just upset about something that happened

 **< Ranboo>** it’s okay now though

**< Ranboo>** in other news, it sure is handy that i have an extra set of maxed armor huh?

 **< Ranboo>** ‘oh yeah i’m wearing dreams armor yeah i dont see whats wrong with that’

 **< Ranboo>** ‘oh yeah i cant take damage without mass amounts of panic so im wearing leather armor’

**< Ranboo>** they’re maniacs. you’d think i was the one with only one life left but no. 

**< Ranboo>** actually, i don’t know how many lives tommy’s got now

 **< Ranboo>** i mean, nobody’s been revived before. we don’t really have any clue what it’s like.

 **< Ranboo>** i guess it would make the most sense for his lives to be sort of restored? but i don’t know, might be wrong.

**< Ranboo>** so, i’m making one more set of maxed out armor. so they both have their own. 

**< Ranboo>** i don’t feel like testing how many lives tommy has

.

**< Ranboo>** niki brought cookies to the syndicate meeting today!

 **< Ranboo>** i’m gonna bring some next meeting to pay her back!

**< Ranboo>** WAIT FIGHT CLUB FIRST RULE OF FIGHT CLUB

 **< Ranboo>** HOW DO YOU DELETE MESSAGES HOW DO YOU DELETE MESSAGES  
 **< Ranboo> **YOU CANT???? WHY CANT YOU DELETE MESSAGES????

**< Ranboo>** okay. Its okay.

**< Ranboo>** i panicked for no reason. there isn’t anyone in this chat.

 **< Ranboo>** maybe if someone stole my communicator they would read this and know but this is not the only incriminating priv open 

**< Ranboo>** i...guess it’s fine to talk about it here?

**< Ranboo>** okay mystery ghost (that’s what i’m calling you now)

 **< Ranboo>** I mean you aren’t a real person. You don’t exist. I dont get why i’m saying ‘you’

 **< Ranboo>** ANYWAY okay mystery ghost let me tell you about the syndicate

**< Ranboo>** i got peer pressured into joining another organization

**< Ranboo>** okay TECHNICALLY it could be worse

 **< Ranboo>** it’s a side and i’m. incredibly upset that i have to join another side.

 **< Ranboo>** even more upset that phil and techno, who I Have Told about my feelings on side, were the ones to pressure me into joining

 **< Ranboo>** however, niki brought cookies today

**< Ranboo>** honestly, the best course of action for me to take is to stay with the Syndicate.

 **< Ranboo>** because this way i can stay friends with techno and phil,

 **< Ranboo>** i can keep the Syndicate from hurting Snowchester (and tubbo),

 **< Ranboo>** and i’m not left in the dark regarding the Syndicate

**< Ranboo>** the syndicate has people that i would be terrified to get in the way of. niki, techno, phil. 

**< Ranboo>** i’ve been on the opposing side of all of them at least once

 **< Ranboo>** i’ve hurt all of them before

 **< Ranboo>** i’d like to avoid doing that again

**< Ranboo>** of course, i still have no clue who the mystery member is, but it’s better to have someone on my side than against me i guess?

 **< Ranboo>** there is something fundamentally wrong with that sentence and it’s upsetting me as much as you think it is.

.

**< Ranboo>** ghostbur has been worrying me, mystery ghost

**< Ranboo>** to be honest, i didn’t interact much with him the first time around? I was new, and there was a lot going on, and he was sort of everywhere

 **< Ranboo>** but still, he is...different? 

**< Ranboo>** odd.

 **< Ranboo>** he’s odd

**< Ranboo>** tommy is yelling at me for not paying attention or helping with the tower

 **< Ranboo>** (even though i’ve been working on it for the past few days fhs)

 **< Ranboo>** it is very funny to simply continue to chat with a nonexistent person while he yells tho

**< Ranboo>** he’s asking who i’m talking to what do i say

 **< Ranboo>** why am i asking you when you can’t respond

 **< Ranboo>** i’m incredibly stupid

**< Ranboo>** BHGVJFHSDJK  
 **< Ranboo>** HE JUST  
 **< Ranboo>** IM ABOUT TO STRANGLE THIS GREMLIN HE THREW MY BOOK INTO THE  
 **< Ranboo>** WATER I PHYSICALLY CANNOT RETRIEVE IT RIGHT NOW

 **< Ranboo>** TUBBO STOLE MY ARMOR THIS MORNING BECAUSE THEY BOTH HATE ME BEING HAPPY IN LIFE  
 **< Ranboo>** IM GOINGTO SCREAM

**< Ranboo>** update: ghostbur got mad at tommy and told him to get my book since he’s the only one out of the three of us who can actually touch water

 **< Ranboo>** he sounded genuinely scary for a second

 **< Ranboo>** tommy looked like he recognized the voice ghostbur used

**< Ranboo>** i have my memory book back. It’s not as damaged as i thought it would be.

**< Ranboo>** tommy is shaking

.

**< Ranboo>** i’ve been hearing a clock recently and it’s driving me insane.

**< Ranboo>** i should clarify

 **< Ranboo>** i don’t mean an actual clock. Like the night and day ones. I mean i’ve been hearing a redstone clock.

**< Ranboo> **It’s around the tower. nowhere else. 

**< Ranboo>** i’m hoping this is like the voice. 

**< Ranboo>** i mean, i hope it isn’t real

 **< Ranboo>** it gets louder the closer i get to the prison. 

**< Ranboo>** i’m checking it out now. It definitely gets louder near the prison and quieter when i move away from it. 

**< Ranboo>** i’m wading right next to the prison. it’s really loud. I know for sure it’s redstone.

**< Ranboo>** i messaged tubbo to ask if he heard it too. he said he did, and thought that it was just part of the prison. 

**< Ranboo>** he’s probably right. 

**< Ranboo>** it’s only near this specific area?? it’s not as loud anywhere else around the prison which doesn’t make sense

**< Ranboo>** it’s definitely real so

 **< Ranboo>** why is there a redstone clock near the prison?

**< Ranboo>** i told sam about it. he says he’ll look into it.

**< Ranboo>** crap crap crap he’s asking what i was doing near the prison uhh

 **< Ranboo>** excuse sent

**< Ranboo>** excuse more or less accepted. However, i am not to be seen withing ten blocks of the prison at all times.

**< Ranboo> **tommy says thats bullshit and is now arguing w/ sam

**< Ranboo>** it has been updated to ten blocks without supervision. which is fair ig?

.

**< Ranboo>** tommy doesn’t think ghostbur is the real ghostbur.

 **< Ranboo>** he thinks that dream actually revived wilbur

 **< Ranboo>** and now wilbur is acting as if he was still ghostbur

**< Ranboo>** he’s shaking again

**< Ranboo>** i don’t want him to see me typing in case he thinks i’m snitching or something but i don’t know what to do

 **< Ranboo>** there’s not much we can do if it is the actual wilbur

**< Ranboo>** tommy wants to talk to him. I don’t think he should though. He’s obviously afraid of wilbur.

 **< Ranboo>** he’s mad i called him a wimp. I did not call him a wimp.

**< Ranboo>** i could offer to talk in his stead. just have tommy tell me what to say and how to handle him if it really is wilbur instead of ghostbur.

**< Ranboo>** he’s okay with the idea. I don’t think he likes it.

 **< Ranboo>** i do think he knows it’s our only option.

**< Ranboo>** neither of us are telling tubbo. 

**< Ranboo>** sorry, tubbo, for leaving you out of the loop again. 

.

**< Ranboo>** michael is so great

**< Ranboo>** i don’t know what i’d do if michael died.

 **< Ranboo>** start killing, probably.

.

**< Ranboo>** the syndicate is talking abt snowchester again

**< Ranboo>** phil n i are trying to get them to leave them alone

**< Ranboo>** techno and phil are arguing

**< Ranboo>** niki joined in

**< Ranboo>** why are they all so mad

**< Ranboo>** niki is mad at me i don’t know why

**< Ranboo>** phil is mad that she’s yelling at me

**< Ranboo>** i don’t know what shes talking about

 **< Ranboo>** i don’t remember the things she’s talking about

 **< Ranboo>** have we visited snowchester before? did i write that down?

 **< Ranboo>** i cant check the book rn but im assuming we did 

**< Ranboo>** phil please let it go dont bring michael up

**< Ranboo>** wrong chat 

**< Ranboo>** you arent real why did i say that

**< Ranboo>** phil mentioned michael

 **< Ranboo>** techno is asking who michaejkl ais

**< Ranboo>** tehcnno is yelnig i=at me

**< Ranboo>** QWATER OIJ HE WATER NEJ 

**< Ranboo>** POSHED HE PUSHED HE WATER HE ME PUSHED WATER

**< Ranboo>** it hurts it hurts it hurts hit shirt rtt hirutfs n sfju

.

**< Ranboo>** i woke up in snowchester?

**< Ranboo> **there’s nothing abt coming here in my book lol?

 **< Ranboo>** oh boy there isn’t anything from the past day in my book that’s usually not good

**< Ranboo>** ouch yikes

 **< Ranboo>** water burns

 **< Ranboo>** did i swim here or smth? where’s my armor?

**< Ranboo>** oh.

**< Ranboo>** I don’t have a home anymore.

.

**< Ranboo>** keeping a sort of live record of my convo with ghostbur(?)

 **< Ranboo>** about to talk to him now

**< Ranboo>** oh he just woke up oops

**< Ranboo>** okay tommy is very bad at coming up with lies so i’m ignoring his messages atm

**< Ranboo>** wow that is not an expression i’ve seen on ghostbur before

**< Ranboo>** tommy is not helping

**< Ranboo>** this is not ghostbur

**< Ranboo>** he’s angry

**< Ranboo>** i ran off 

**< Ranboo> **why did connor give him back the knife

 **< Ranboo>** holy shit that is not ghostbur

**< Ranboo>** apologies for swearing mystery ghost

**< Ranboo>** i don’t know where i am. Tommy isn’t answering anymore.

**< Ranboo>** bad news: i’m lost

 **< Ranboo>** good news: i now have an answer to ‘is it ghostbur or wilbur’

**< Ranboo>** (it’s wilbur)

**< Ranboo>** oh oh oh oh oh

**< Ranboo>** hmm

 **< Ranboo>** good news: i am no longer lost

**< Ranboo>** maybe if i’m extra quiet i can sneak over to my vault

 **< Ranboo>** do you reckon they’ve ransacked my house yet?

**< Ranboo>** oh hey they left it up! I can’t tell if that’s good or not\

**< Ranboo>** my pets aren’t here anymore though so who knows about that front.

 **< Ranboo>** my basement is empty but intact.

 **< Ranboo>** do i even have a lever?

 **< Ranboo>** i DO

**< Ranboo>** they didn’t touch the vault! all of my stuff is still here! pog! 

**< Ranboo>** ohh footsteps are not good to hear

 **< Ranboo>** grabbed everything i could and blocked up the entrance

 **< Ranboo>** im hiding behind the wall in my old enderpearl stasis chamber lol it is cramped

 **< Ranboo>** its techno

**< Ranboo>** i am fairly certain i am not meant to be hearing this

**< Ranboo>** he’s upset but.

 **< Ranboo>** it’s not at me.

**< Ranboo>** wilbur messaged me

 **< Ranboo>** oh no he messaged me in the general chat

 **< Ranboo>** good news: i do not have to break the news of ghostbur’s no-longer-ghost-ness

**< Ranboo>** bad news: i’m pretty sure techno just broke part of my wall in rage

.

**< Ranboo>** i talked to phil and techno

 **< Ranboo> **they’re still upset that i kept stuff from them that could have potentially put them and the syndicate in danger

 **< Ranboo>** and they definitely don’t trust me anymore

**< Ranboo>** but

**< Ranboo>** i have a house again

 **< Ranboo>** pog

.

**< Ranboo>** man wilbur is significantly less dead than he’s supposed to be

**< Ranboo>** i mean obviously he was revived right

 **< Ranboo>** but he runs way faster than someone who was dead two weeks ago should be able to run

**< Ranboo>** i’m pretty sure i saw my life flash before my eyes just now

**< Ranboo>** update: tubbo tommy and i have taken shelter in my old panic room since wil doesn’t know it exists

**< Ranboo>** update: tubbo is freaking out. Ironic considering it is my panic room and i tend to be the one panicking

**< Ranboo>** update: i failed to remember that while wilbur doesn’t know about the panic room, he does know about michael

**< Ranboo>** okay. It’s okay. michael’s okay.

 **< Ranboo>** it’s possible he forgot about michael

 **< Ranboo>** maybe michael won’t even cross his mind

 **< Ranboo>** we’re attached to plenty of other things. michael may not be priority

**< Ranboo>** update: wilbur does in fact remember michael. 

**< Ranboo>** tommy found the tnt in the wall

 **< Ranboo>** i didn’t even know that was still there

**< Ranboo>** wilbur is threatening michael

**< Ranboo>** both tubbo and tommy are upset with me typing rn

**< Ranboo>** i forgot they were with me and yelled at them

 **< Ranboo>** im so sorry im so sorry

 **< Ranboo>** i didn’t i swear i really really didn’t stop saying that

**< Ranboo>** the tnt isn’t mine

**< Ranboo> **why are they looking at me like that?

 **< Ranboo>** they aren’t answering me anymore

**< Ranboo>** tubbo and tommy are gone

 **< Ranboo>** when did they leave?

 **< Ranboo>** they were just here! they

**< Ranboo>** tubbo and tommy were here right

 **< Ranboo>** i 

**< Ranboo>**╎ ↸𝙹リ'ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎リꖌ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ|| ꖎ╎ꖌᒷ ᒲᒷ ᔑリ||ᒲ𝙹∷ᒷ

.

**< Ranboo>** i cannot for the life of me understand what that says

**< Ranboo>** we were never in the panic room? tubbo says we went right to snowchester and saw wilbur with michael

 **< Ranboo>** where apparently he threatened to kill michael if we got in the way of his plans

 **< Ranboo>** and APPARENTLY i gave him some note and he let go???

**< Ranboo>** michael and tommy have been hounding me about what was in the note but do they rly expect me, memory boy, to remember?

 **< Ranboo>** oops, tubbo* and tommy

 **< Ranboo>** i can’t wait until michael can talk bruhhh

**< Ranboo>** wilbur hasn’t messaged me at all though, and there aren’t any records

 **< Ranboo>** so it was a physical note

 **< Ranboo>** which makes me think it might have been whatever note subpoena handed off to me last month?

**< Ranboo>** i don’t have any missing paper that i can notice

 **< Ranboo>** and now that im checking

 **< Ranboo>** that note isn’t in my memory book

 **< Ranboo>** huh

**< Ranboo>** well, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and all that

**< Ranboo>** i never really got that saying. wouldn’t you want to know if there’s something wrong with some gifted horse??

 **< Ranboo>** like, if there was something wrong with the horse someone gave me, i’d probably want to know?

**< Ranboo>** i say that, but if im being entirely honest, 

**< Ranboo>** i wouldn’t do a thing in that situation

 **< Ranboo>** except quietly accept the horse and ask no questions lol

**< Ranboo>** we do be having no backbone tho

.

**< Ranboo>** ⍑ᒷꖎꖎ𝙹! :D

**< Ranboo>** 𝙹𝙹!¡ᓭ, ∴∷𝙹リ⊣ ᓵ⍑ᔑℸ ̣

 **< Ranboo>** ᓭ𝙹∷∷||!

.

**< Ranboo>** hmm concerning

**< Ranboo>** i have absolutely no clue what that says

 **< Ranboo>** lovely :D

**< Ranboo>** i seriously need to think of a way to stop the enderwalk 

**< Ranboo>** i doubt i can stop it from happening

 **< Ranboo>** but i should be able to at least keep myself in one space right?

**< Ranboo>** maybe i should let sam drag me into prison

**< Ranboo>** then i wouldn’t have to worry about hurting anyone. 

**< Ranboo>** nah

.

**< Ranboo>** i’m clarifying for any deity watching over these messages for whatever odd reason: i do not want to be in prison

 **< Ranboo>** that is

 **< Ranboo>** not something i would like

.

**< Ranboo>** dream isnt jnd the h pncel

**< Ranboo>** im runigng jehyb am i at he perison 

**< Ranboo>** theyrhe cdshouting when did i get ehrew

**< Ranboo>** im back in the panic room

 **< Ranboo> **ran here

 **< Ranboo>** woke up outside the prison and dream wasn’t in the prison

 **< Ranboo>** based on the announcement in general

 **< Ranboo>** sam was mad at me

**< Ranboo>** what did i do?

**< Ranboo>** sometimes i wish you were an actual person, mystery ghost

 **< Ranboo>** i need help right now

.

**< Ranboo>** ⎓╎リᔑꖎꖎ|| ⎓∷ᒷᒷ↸ ↸∷ᒷᔑᒲ, ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹𝙹ꖌ ⎓𝙹∷ᒷ⍊ᒷ∷

**< Ranboo>** ʖ∷╎⊣⍑ℸ ̣ ᓭ╎↸ᒷ: ╎ ᓵᔑリ ℸ ̣ ᔑꖎꖌ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ↸∷ᒷᔑᒲ ᔑ⊣ᔑ╎リ

 **< Ranboo>** ↸𝙹∴リᓭ╎↸ᒷ: ╎'ᒲ ∴ᔑリℸ ̣ ᒷ↸ ↸ᒷᔑ↸ ʖ|| ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᒷリℸ ̣ ╎∷ᒷ ᓭᒷ∷⍊ᒷ∷

**< Ranboo>** 𝙹⍑ ∴ᒷꖎꖎ, ∷╎!¡

.

  
 **< D∷ᒷᔑᒲ >** Hello :)


	2. the rats, at last, had died

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He shook his head, pushing himself up and off the ground with trembling arms. He could hear footsteps upstairs, and it was likely only a matter of time until someone went to check the basement. 
> 
> Somebody - loud and brash, Tommy - made some astonished remark upstairs, and Ranboo held back a smile. This wasn’t the time to laugh at his friends- or, former friends. 
> 
> He had to leave."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ello my first draft of this chapter deleted itself so this was a damn experience to finish dashfkjbahkjgb  
> hhhhhh comments and kudos make my brain go Happy Chemical so feel free to leave those if you want!

Ranboo stared down at his communicator, a chill rolling down his spine. Cold and slow, like a knife trailing by his back.

  
The message glared at him, dancing around his vision. 

No. No, no, the chat was supposed to be empty. The chat was empty, so how-?

‘Hello :)’

He bit back a scream.

Currently, he was in the basement of his house. How he got here, he did not know. When was also out of the question.

Okay, okay, backtrack. Retrace your steps. That’s what you’re supposed to do in these situations, right?

Not like there was much of a precedent for his specific predicament, but he’d take what he could get.

He woke up outside the prison. Sam had just sent a message in chat, alerting everyone that Dream wasn’t in the prison. Sam was also outside, with him. He looked angry - understandable, considering he was a warden with  _ one _ prisoner and said prisoner was no longer there - but he specifically looked angry at  _ Ranboo _ . 

Why?

There had been smoke. There had been smoke? 

Okay, alright, smoke, probably means tnt or fire. Tnt, most likely. Ranboo hadn’t noticed any damage to the prison, but he was also busy trying not to die, so that could have been why. 

Tnt, tnt - Ranboo gasped, gagging the sound with his fist. He couldn’t risk anyone hearing him. He didn’t even know if anyone knew he was in his house; even if they didn’t know for sure, they would be checking for him. 

Tnt. The redstone clock. The redstone clock that  _ Ranboo _ had noticed, that  _ Ranboo _ had told Sam about, and that  _ Ranboo _ had been suspected of making, since nobody else knew it was even there. Nobody else as far as he knew, at least. 

Oh.  _ Oh _ . Sam’s reaction made a lot more sense. Ranboo would definitely be suspicious of himself, as well. 

Except,  _ crap _ , he woke up  _ after _ the escape, and he was already at the prison. Sam was right there when he woke up, Sam definitely saw something Ranboo didn’t.

Oh boy,  _ oh no _ , he did something, didn’t he? Of course he did,  _ of course he did _ , because that’s all he ever seemed to do, wasn’t it? Ruin things, make things worse, ruin lives, and the like.

If Dream told the Ranboo he’d been the one to kill Tommy, not him, Ranboo would have no reason not to believe him, even with Dream being  _ Dream _ .

Wait, right, Dream.

The message was still there; the chat was still open. 

Unfortunately, Ranboo had no way of knowing when the message had been sent, since they didn’t really have time stamps or anything. He did know that he had yet to respond, lucid or not.

His hands were shaking. Oh  _ man _ his hands were shaking. He could barely keep the communicator from falling right out of his hands, let alone type out a message to  _ Dream _ .

Or, he assumed it was Dream. His galactic was rusty - poor memory and no use did not bode well for his knowledge of the language, if he ever knew it at all - but he recognized enough of the letters.

And, well, obviously, nobody else would add that godforsaken smile to their messages.

Or, nobody with half a mind and a will to live on the server. 

Things did not bode well for him, he realized with a shiver. 

There was almost no way he  _ didn’t _ break Dream out of prison. 

But why would he do that? He can’t stand Dream, he would rather go his entire life never again talking to the man. But, of course, as the universe would have it, apparently he much preferred the other’s company.

News to him.

He wasn’t going to go down another spiral about what his enderwalking state was, what caused it, or what it was like, but he still worried. Because this was still  _ him _ . He didn’t change, or anything. He wasn’t a different person. 

So any thoughts or opinions he had when enderwalking, he probably had when lucid, right?

So...why did he like Dream so much more when he was asleep?

He shook his head, pushing himself up and off the ground with trembling arms. He could hear footsteps upstairs, and it was likely only a matter of time until someone went to check the basement. 

Somebody - loud and brash, Tommy - made some astonished remark upstairs, and Ranboo held back a smile. This wasn’t the time to laugh at his friends- or, former friends. 

He had to leave.

He rubbed his cat’s head one more time, whispering a goodbye as his grip around his bag tightened. He’d gathered everything he could, already halfway through when he came to, and was still looking for a way out. Maybe, if he hadn’t spent his time panicking about things that wouldn’t do him any good now, he would have been able to leave out the front door, before anybody even got to his house, but what could he do about that now? Nothing.

He could, he supposed, dig through the mountain. Come out the other side, block up his path behind him. 

The voices got louder, closer, and he steeled himself. Digging it was, then. 

He equipped his shovel and started digging through the dirt wall, offering a half-hearted hum to the enderman in a boat, watching him closely.  _ ‘Goodbye’ _ , he hummed, not looking back as he blocked up the wall behind him. He could barely hear the response as he continued to dig, the dirt muffling the sound.

What he did hear, he couldn’t decipher.

He sighed, half out of melancholy and half out of tiredness, as he made his way through the mountain. Any noise from the basement was too muffled and muddled to make out or hear, so he didn’t really know if anyone was following him or not, but he could only assume the worst, unless he wanted to be unprepared and die.

A part of him sang out, wishing he could hope for the best, but he squashed it down with a sting in his eyes. 

He had learned, through others consequences and punishments, that nobody would be offering any mercy. If something bad was going to happen, if you could imagine a worst outcome, then that’s what was going to happen. 

And there was nothing he could do about that.

As he emerged on the other side of the mountain with a huff, closing up his tunnel behind him and hopping down next to the nearby river at the bottom, his communicator pinged. He grimaced. There wasn’t going to be any possibility he would like whatever message he’d received. 

He hopped over the river, taking a second to turn back in the direction of his home.

‘What used to be your home,’ he bitterly thought. He’d just moved back in, too.

There was smoke over the other side of the mountain and he forced back a sob. Were they burning his house? Did they hate the thought of him that much, now?

_ ‘Once a traitor, always a traitor,’ _ whispered a familiar voice, and Ranboo resisted the urge to throw himself into the water and fizzle away. Gritting his teeth, he turned back around, and started running. 

Maybe he’d find a cave or something to hide out in. After that, who knows. Maybe he’ll just turn himself in, let Sam take every last one of his lives for something he didn’t even remember doing.

He should have come clean. Earlier, way earlier. Back when Dream was still in the prison, when he had first been banned from visiting. When he first started fearing his involvement in whatever Dream could possibly be planning.

No, even before that. When he first found the tnt in his panic room. When he first blacked out. When he first joined the server. He should have known, should have prepared, should have been  _ better _ . 

But he couldn’t go back in time, no matter how much he wanted to, and he certainly couldn’t talk to anyone now.

  
And he really couldn’t tell if it was his own fault or not.

.

He did, eventually, find a cave. He didn’t dare light it up, in the fear that someone might notice, might try to see if anyone was there, might see him and attack. If that happened, he knew he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to defend his life.

Monsters, however, he could fight without remorse. 

His legs were sore, and his lungs were burning, but he was alive. Alive and  _ free _ , for the most part. 

Honestly, while he wasn’t a big fan of dying, he would prefer being killed over being held in the prison. He’d seen the inside, regardless of how much he remembered, and he’d heard Tommy rant about how awful it was to be stuck in there. 

He was fine hiding out in cramped and dark caves, thank you very much.

A mix between a sigh and a groan escaped him when he leaned back against the cold stone, sliding down to sit. He was exhausted. Physically and emotionally. 

After he’d gotten that first message, getting out of the mountain, it was like a dam had opened up. His communicator blew up, and he had yet to read any of the messages. 

He supposed he should get on that, huh?

Part of him wished he could close his eyes, shield him from whatever cusses and insults he was about to subject himself to, but alas. 

He turned his communicator on, and - yeah. Okay. Yeah, he expected this much.

He scrolled through the messages, entirely ignoring any chat with more than one other person in it, as he really didn’t have the energy to deal with so many people. 

When he ignored those messages, he wasn’t left with a lot. 

Tommy had sent him a simple ‘why?’ and gods did Ranboo ache to give him an answer. Any explanation, anything at all, anything to give the long-suffering boy some bit of closure. 

He didn’t reply to that one.

One message from Techno and Phil each, along the same lines: ‘We won’t go out of our way to help you, but we won’t hunt you down.’

That was about as much as he could hope for. Honestly, it was far more than he expected, and he wiped at his eyes before anything could burn into his skin. 

_ ‘Thank you,’ _ he sent, a bittersweet smile on his face. He really should have expected as much from the two, when thinking back on their reactions to his previous confessions related to Dream, but he reckoned this was more than he deserved anyways.

And then the last one.

**< Dream>** Aw, no hello back? You’ve been messaging me nonstop for so long, and now you’re just leaving me hanging?

He growled, ignoring the concerned hum of a nearby enderman. His face tugged back into a snarl, he hastily typed out a reply, but paused. His finger hovered over the send button.

He read over his response, over and over until it burned his retinas, and deleted it. His anger died down into a simple frown, unsure of how to respond. 

He got another message. 

**< Dream>** Alright, I get it. I’ll shut my mouth.

His eyebrows creased, and he started typing.

**< Ranboo> ** what could you possibly want from me

**< Dream>** A response, obviously!

**< Ranboo>** but we aren’t friends

**< Dream>** Aren’t we? :)

Ranboo threw his communicator and screamed. 

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have a good day! uhh there may or may not be more to this, we'll see i guess hasbfkgwes kisses!!

**Author's Note:**

> me again, here to translate the galactic:
> 
> ╎ ↸𝙹リ'ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎リꖌ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ|| ꖎ╎ꖌᒷ ᒲᒷ ᔑリ||ᒲ𝙹∷ᒷ  
> i don't think they like me anymore
> 
> ⍑ᒷꖎꖎ𝙹! :D  
> hello! :D
> 
> 𝙹𝙹!¡ᓭ, ∴∷𝙹リ⊣ ᓵ⍑ᔑℸ  
> oops, wrong chat
> 
> ᓭ𝙹∷∷||!  
> sorry!
> 
> ⎓╎リᔑꖎꖎ|| ⎓∷ᒷᒷ↸ ↸∷ᒷᔑᒲ, ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹𝙹ꖌ ⎓𝙹∷ᒷ⍊ᒷ∷  
> finally freed dream, that took forever
> 
> ʖ∷╎⊣⍑ℸ ̣ ᓭ╎↸ᒷ: ╎ ᓵᔑリ ℸ ̣ ᔑꖎꖌ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ↸∷ᒷᔑᒲ ᔑ⊣ᔑ╎リ  
> bright side: i can talk to dream again
> 
> ↸𝙹∴リᓭ╎↸ᒷ: ╎'ᒲ ∴ᔑリℸ ̣ ᒷ↸ ↸ᒷᔑ↸ ʖ|| ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᒷリℸ ̣ ╎∷ᒷ ᓭᒷ∷⍊ᒷ∷  
> downside: i'm wanted dead by the entire server
> 
> 𝙹⍑ ∴ᒷꖎꖎ, ∷╎!¡  
> oh well, rip
> 
> D∷ᒷᔑᒲ  
> Dream


End file.
